LSE starts recovery process

After receiving heavy blow during the last two days, the local share market started recovering, gaining 3.95 percent on Wednesday to close once again above 5,000 points level.
The LSE-25 index ended at 5,018.85 points compared with 4,827.77, posting a net gain of 191.08 points or 3.95 percent. Volume was also improved and was registered at 56.015 million shares versus 46.967 million shares, showing a rise of 9.047 million shares or 19.26 percent.
The market has remained under heavy pressure during the last couple of sessions, shedding 447 points, thus recovery was expected on Wednesday, analysts said, adding, the big players, who were causing pressure by offloading, were now back to pick stocks at the attractive levels.
According to them, a big brokerage house offloaded heavily due to which the market came down below 5,000 marks on Tuesday. Moreover, various rumours pertaining to NAB investigation against oil marketing companies and budget related reports were also factors that contributed to the negative sentiments of the market, they pointed out.
According to some experts, sometime back when the market was under bull-run, it had ignored various negative factors, including Morgan Stanley's move of lowering weightage of companies in its indices. But its impact, although belated, was seen in the last two day's trading, they pointed out. On Wednesday, buying support came in from the institutional side that supported the sentiment and helped bulls show their strength. However, volume was not up to the mark, which means the market lacked big players' support, a broker said. On Wednesday, Pakistan Oilfields topped gainers list followed by National Bank and PPL while premier lowers included Crescent Bank, NIB Bank and Nishat (Chunian).
The market is lacking interest, which is evident from the volume, that is not up to the mark, said Abullah Aziz Zia, an independent analyst. About past two day's falls, he said: "it is pre-budget jitters, which caused panic and this state of affairs may not end till the announcement of the federal budget 2006-07." However, he added, SECP probe against a bank was also a key factor for creating panic in the market and it played a role in the market turbulence. According to him, volume is very low and it has not improved with the return of bull-run on Wednesday, which is not a healthy sign. The market tone is uncertain and he did not see any visible change in the existing state of affairs, till the budget is announced, he viewed.
Out of a total of 106 traded scrips, 50 improved, 9 landed in minus zone, while 47 were intact to their previous levels. Among key gainers, Pakistan Oilfields gained Rs 14.10, National Bank Rs 13.55, PPL Rs 12.60, PSO Rs 9.55 and MCB Bank Rs 9.85. In minus zone, Crescent Standard Investment Bank shed Rs 0.75, NIB Bank Rs 0.60, Nishat (Chunian) Rs 0.50, Worldcall Communications Rs 0.20 and Crescent Commercial Bank Rs 0.10. National Bank and OGDC dominated the proceedings by volume with 7.595 and 5.550 million shares, respectively.